44 cats, 5 dogs taken in raids of Longmont home

Police say Gay Street residence has history of neighbor complaints

By Tony Kindelspire

Times-Call staff writer

Posted:
07/21/2014 03:56:10 PM MDT

This home in the 1300 block of Gay Street matches the description — red siding and roof, and a trailer in the driveway — given by police of a home from which more than 50 animals had been removed. (Tony Kindelspire / Longmont Times-Call)

Longmont Police have twice recently raided a home in the 1300 block of Gay Street and removed nearly 50 animals, many of them in poor health. Police say the house has a history of neighbor complaints and visits by animal control, including an incident last August when more than a dozen cats were taken from the home.

A visit two weeks ago to the home was spurred by a neighbor's complaint of foul odors emanating from the house, and animal control went back over the next several days and ended up removing 20 cats and one wild rabbit from the house. At that time the residents were asked by law enforcement to improve conditions at the home and to get their animals treated for health problems, but subsequent visits by police and animal control led to detectives pulling a search warrant for the home, which they served Friday.

Accompanying detectives into the home were an animal control officer and someone from the city's code enforcement division. Five dogs and 24 more cats were removed from the home, according to Cmdr. Jeff Satur of the Longmont Police Department.

According to the warrant affidavit filled out by Detective Stephen Desmond, investigators found large bowls of cat food but no water anywhere around. When animal control officers put water bowls down, one cat drank water continuously for 10 minutes, while another drank continuously for eight minutes.

"Cruelty to animals would probably be the most appropriate charges," Satur said. "But these hoarding cases are complicated."

He said the owner of the home is an 83-year-old woman who lives there with her 47-year-old granddaughter and 17-year-old great-grandson.

The address of the home and the names of its residents were redacted from the affidavit because no charges have been filed, Satur said.

Early Monday evening, an elderly woman who answered the door of a home on the 1300 block of Gay that fits the description in the affidavit declined to comment when asked about activity regarding animals in the house.

Satur said that neighbors have frequently complained about the house. The affidavit described the red-sided home as in very poor condition inside and out: trash and junk vehicles in the yards, a hole in the ceiling, a garage floor covered in animal feces and an overwhelming cat smell throughout the house.

The stench from one room an animal control officer was entering "knocked her back it was so bad," the affidavit said.

Satur said his detectives are working with the district attorney's office to determine what, if any, charges should be filed.

"We're evaluating that," Satur said. "It may be necessary to do that to get some accountability."

He also said that the city's code enforcement office have an open investigation on the home and it's possible that the homeowner will face several violations.

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